O.C jails filling up with state prisoners

July 19, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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As of mid-July, officials said Orange County jails are operating at a 98 percent capacity. Since the state's prison realignment took effect, the number inmates in county jails, and convicts being supervised by parole, has been higher than was originally predicted. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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As of mid-July, officials said Orange County jails are operating at a 98 percent capacity. Since the state's prison realignment took effect, the number inmates in county jails, and convicts being supervised by parole, has been higher than was originally predicted. JOSHUA SUDOCK, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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As of mid-July, officials said Orange County jails are operating at a 98 percent capacity. Since the state's prison realignment took effect, the number inmates in county jails, and convicts being supervised by parole, has been higher than was originally predicted. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Since the state's prison realignment took effect, the number inmates in county jails, and convicts being supervised by parole, has been higher than was originally predicted. KEN STEINHARDT, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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As of mid-July, officials said Orange County jails are operating at a 98 percent capacity. Since the state's prison realignment took effect, the number inmates in county jails, and convicts being supervised by parole, has been higher than was originally predicted. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

As of mid-July, officials said Orange County jails are operating at a 98 percent capacity. Since the state's prison realignment took effect, the number inmates in county jails, and convicts being supervised by parole, has been higher than was originally predicted. H. LORREN AU JR., THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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SANTA ANA – More inmates from state prisons are filling county jails and more are being monitored by local probation officers than was originally expected.

Nearly 10 months since a new law that shifts state prisoners to county jails took effect, local officials said state estimates have been consistently off the mark.

Orange County Probation officials said they are supervising 58 percent more people than they expected. Local jails are also filling up fast and the number of inmates flowing in to county jails has been twice what was predicted, officials with the Orange County Sheriff's Department said.

While state correctional officials estimated an additional 143 monthly inmates would be booked at Orange County jails as a result of the law, Sheriff's officials said the monthly average actually has been 293. As of mid-July, the county's jails are at 98 percent capacity.

Orange County officials said they are concerned the underestimated numbers could lower reimbursements from the state to the county to offset the costs of the shift. If funding is based on the estimates provided by state officials -- instead of what local agencies are experiencing -- the cost to the county could be significantly higher, officials said.

"There's no question there's a discrepancy in the number of bodies we've gotten (to) what they told us we were going to get," said Assistant Sheriff Mike James, who oversees custody operations. "We're trying to coordinate a meeting with (the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) to discuss where this discrepancy is in the bodies."

To comply with a court ruling to reduce the inmate population in state prisons, state officials began to implement AB109 in October of last year. The law calls for the moving state inmates to county jails as well as to shifting the monitoring of convicts to probation officers instead of parole.

"If the allocation is based on this number, and we're getting this many, then it's a huge issue," James said.

IMPACT BEYOND O.C.

The impact has not been limited to Orange County.

Throughout California, sheriffs' departments have reported higher numbers than were estimated by state correction officials, said Nevada County Sheriff Keith Royal, president of California State Sheriff's Association. Several counties have seen twice as many inmates in their jails as a result, he said, and some have reported as much as three times what was predicted.

"The numbers have been consistently higher," Royal said.

Orange County was allocated $23 million from the state for the first year of plan. For the second year, the state is expected to allot twice as much money to counties, but James said twice as many inmates and probationers are also expected.

Calls to the state's Department of Finance, which oversees reimbursements to counties, were not returned. State correction officials say they are reassessing the numbers.

Since AB109 was implemented, more than 1,800 people have been booked into Orange County jails that previously would have spent time in state prison.

"I think every agency is going to absorb additional costs," said Steven Sentman, chief probation officer and head of the Community Corrections Partnership committee, a collection of local law enforcement agencies, including probation, prosecutors, public defenders and courts, set up to address the changes. "The funding is not enough, but you have to make it work."

DOLING OUT MONEY

The committee is expected to discuss how to distribute funding among Orange County's law enforcement agencies later this month, probation officials said.

Part of the discrepancy between the state's estimates and what the county has been dealing with may be due to parole violators who were previously booked with Anaheim Police before the realignment plan went into effect, James said.

Before the changes took effect, state correction officials held a contract to house some parole violators in Anaheim jail. That contract was discontinued after Oct. 1. While the state's initial estimates included those being released from state prison, they did not include those parole violators who would no longer stay in Anaheim, James said.

The Sheriff's Department is trying to coordinate a meeting with state correction officials to discuss the discrepancy.

Chris Bieber, chief deputy probation officer, said the last three months have shown some leveling off. The number of prisoners released from state prison and the state's projections have been a lot more accurate. In June, 132 prisoners were expected, and 134 reported to probation officers.

"We're trying to be very fair in our reporting to be factually correct," James said. "We have to figure out what the number is."

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